Re: [openvrml-develop] Considering renaming node_class

[Reed H. <re...@in...>]

I looked at node_class a bit but don't remember exactly how it works,
but "factory" does imply a specific way of operating.  Could a
node_metatype in fact be a kind of node_type? Then you could just have
"nothing but node_types all the way down" :)

Either way, but yes, I did find the whole idea of node_class a bit
mysterious at first, partly because I didn't know what _class meant.
Most of us openvrml users won't need to deal with node_class anyway if
we're not creating new types of nodes, right?  So the documentation
could just say so and we could skip over it.

Reed



Braden McDaniel wrote:
> I've been reminded recently that the distinction between "node_class"
> and "node_type" can be confusing; and I'm inclined to believe this is
> mostly because of how they're named. OOP tends to treat the terms
> "class" and "type" as synonyms. But in OpenVRML, a node_class is very
> different from a node_type.
> 
> I believe node_type is pretty accurately named. It corresponds to what
> the VRML97 spec calls a "node type". node_class, on the other hand,
> doesn't exactly correspond to anything in the spec. A concrete
> node_class provides a sort of foundation for the implementation of a
> suite of node_types that share that implementation. As such, it is
> closest to the VRML spec's concept of a PROTO. However, while a PROTO
> could be considered a "kind of" node_class (and in fact OpenVRML
> implements PROTOs that way), not all node_classes are PROTOs.
> 
> So I am considering renaming "node_class". The frontrunner in my mind at
> the moment is "node_metatype". This class is responsible for creating
> node_types; and it can create n! distinct node_types, where n is the
> number of node interfaces supported by the node implementation.
> 
> "node_type_factory" has also been suggested. It is accurate; this class
> is a factory for node_types. However, it strikes me as less expressive
> than "node_metatype".
> 
> Opinions? Other suggestions?
> 
> Braden
> 
> 
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